1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system displays, and more particularly to a system and method for display of information by modular components.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems often interact with a number of peripherals to communicate, print, display or otherwise process information. For instance, cathode ray tube (CRT) and, more recently, flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma displays, present information generated by information handling systems and communicated to the display through standardized cables, such as VGA or DVI cables. In the past, information handling systems typically generated display information with greater resolution than was available from conventional televisions. However, the advent of high definition television (HDTV) has brought about a convergence of information handling system display technology with television display technology. Flat panel LCD and plasma televisions are now commonly available that present digitally-rendered information with much of the same technology as is found in information handling system displays. However, flat panel televisions typically have highly-integrated architectures for processing and displaying information. As a result, flat panel televisions are built to then-current display performance, broadcast and connectivity standards with little flexibility to adjust to developments in standards after release of the television. Further, users typically respond to television failure by purchase of a new television with updated system performance rather than an attempt to fix the failure. By contrast, information handling system displays tend to rely on processing by an information handling system to produce high quality displays and are less prone to failure. Thus, despite the similarities between flat panel information handling system displays and flat panel televisions, information handling system displays typically do not integrate television components.
The information handling system industry has made some efforts to integrate television components with information handling system displays to provide television functions through the displays. One example of the display of television signals through an information handling system display is by converting the signals through a TV card of an information handling system. However, converted signals tend to have a lower quality due to interference introduced in the conversion process. Other available solutions attempt to add television functionality to information handling system displays with separate add-on modules, or vice versa. For instance, Samsung offers a modular television tuner that interfaces with a SyncMaster TFT LCD to allow the display to meet different broadcast standards. Another example is the Pioneer PDA5002 Video Option Card, which enables video input to commercial plasma displays. AverMedia sells a separate box that interfaces with an LCD monitor to provide TV functionality as a plug-and-play multimedia entertainment center with or without an information handling system. Television manufacturers have attempted to add information handling system interfaces to televisions, such as Scientific Atlanta, which sells a set top box that interfaces a television or a display with a cable to present television signals. Each of these solutions offers only piecemeal convergence of information handling system and television displays, and are often greeted by user confusion in interfacing the separate components.